As president of the Aether Foundation, Lusamine claims to love all Pokémon, be they native to the Alola region or not. While the player and Hau are conversing with her in the conservation area, an Ultra Wormhole appears, in which Nihilego emerges. In Sun and Moon, after the player battles it, she claims she will find it and love it like the other Pokémon in her care; in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, the Ultra Recon Squad immediately show up, upon which Lusamine explains that they are assisting the Aether Foundation in researching Ultra Beasts. Once Hau mentions Lillie, she gives a surprised expression but tries to not acknowledge her, stating that children are better off listening to the adults around them.

Later in the story, Plumeria remarks to Lillie that Team Skull are not the only thieves in Alola, and that Lillie ought to return Cosmog. When Hau, Gladion, and the player arrive at Aether Paradise, all the employees are suddenly hostile to them, including Faba, who had locked down Lusamine's office under her orders. There are also a number of Team Skull Grunts present, implying an alliance.

When the player leaves Hau and Gladion to deal with Guzma, they find Lillie in the same room as Lusamine, with the former begging Lusamine to come to her senses. Lusamine is not fazed by it, and berates Lillie for leaving her and claims she was never her daughter, before teleporting into another room via a pad hidden behind her mirror. Lillie and the player step on the pad too, and teleport into the room her mother went to. When they arrive, Lusamine taunts them to come closer. Afterwards, Lillie and the player are horrified to see that she has a collection of frozen Pokémon scattered about the room, "protected" for all eternity.

Pokémon Sun and Moon

Hau arrives, together with Gladion. Lusamine is disgusted by her son's arrival, as he had stolen Type: Null and ran away from her. He does not try to reason with her, deciding it is impossible at this point. Lusamine, frustrated, exclaims that she gave all her love to her children, only for them to run away. Cosmog is then revealed to be inside a cube, in which Lillie pleads her not to use its power, as it would die. Lusamine, however, acts as though she does not consider her statements, and uses the cube anyway, opening up a large wormhole in the room, and multiple others on the various islands of Alola.

Guzma arrives, asking Lusamine whether the experiment was a success, and Nihilego materializes behind her. After being defeated by the player, Lusamine and Guzma jump into the wormhole and disappear with said portal alongside Nihilego.

She is later encountered in Ultra Space, where Guzma has given up working with her because of his newfound fear since Nihilego possessed him, and claims she is immune to reason at this point. Lillie disagrees, and runs off to confront her mother. When they arrive at an open terrace, she is nowhere to be found, only to phase into visibility and appear sitting on a rock in front of them. Lillie continues what she was saying to her mother back at Aether Paradise, along with trying to persuade her to come back to Alola.

Guzma turned out to be correct, as Lusamine says she would rather not come back to Alola, and that Lillie "could not even be that stupid". She boasts about how Ultra Space is beautiful, that Nihilego is all she cares about now, and that Lillie became ugly after leaving her and making friends with the player. Lusamine then turns her attention to the player, in which she immediately battles them, but not before merging with a Nihilego to become a pseudo-beast herself.

After losing, Lusamine becomes enraged and attempts to strike Lillie with one of many large tentacles she has control of. Lillie calls out to SolgaleoS/LunalaM, who proceeds to roar and emit energy at Lusamine, separating her from Nihilego. Before passing out, she asks Lillie when she started becoming beautiful. At the end of the game, Lillie tells the player she believes Lusamine is getting a bit better, having even tried to go to the player's celebration, and that she has been gently trying to help her mother understand the error of her ways. Lillie then leaves for the Kanto region to seek treatment for her mother from Bill (who, like Lusamine, has been combined with a Pokémon before) in the hopes that it will heal her of the last of Nihilego's poisons.

When spoken to after the victory celebration, Gladion speculates that Lusamine's fixation with the Ultra Beasts may have started when her husband (and Lillie and Gladion's father) Professor Mohn vanished during his study of the Ultra Wormholes and, in an ill-fated attempt to find him, she eventually grew obsessed with the Ultra Beasts to the point of monomania. Lillie's reminiscences on Exeggutor Island show that she recalls that her mother was once a kind and compassionate woman who genuinely cared for her children.

Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon

Hau arrives with Gladion, who tries to reason with her, not wanting his mother to disappear just like his father did. Lusamine, however, dismisses his concerns, and challenges the player to a battle to prove her strength. Regardless of the outcome, Lusamine remarks that the player should just resume their island challenge. She reassures everyone that she will be fine because Guzma will be accompanying her, but rejects Gladion's request to join her as well, repeating her line that children would be better off listening to the adults around them. Guzma arrives shortly, and using the cube containing Nebby, Lusamine opens up a large wormhole in the room. Lusamine disappears into the Ultra Wormhole, and Guzma follows.

Lusamine is not seen again until after the player reaches the Altar of the SunneUS/Altar of the MooneUM and Nebby, now a Cosmoem, evolves into SolgaleoUS/LunalaUM. An Ultra Wormhole suddenly appears, ejecting both Guzma and Lusamine, and out comes Necrozma, who captures and fuses with the newly-evolved Nebby. After being battled, Necrozma steals the light from Alola and disappears into an Ultra Wormhole, and the Ultra Recon Squad, having witnessed the battle, arrives at the altar. Lusamine makes a request to use of the Ultra Recon Squad's Legendary Pokémon to travel Ultra Space, but DulseUS/PhycoUM berates her in response. After the player defeats Necrozma at Ultra Megalopolis and returns to the Altar, a humbled Lusamine admits to Lillie that she was right to take Cosmog away. She hands the player three Beast Balls before taking Lillie back to Aether Paradise to care for the weakened Nebby.

After the player's victory celebration, Lusamine is seen waving goodbye to Gladion at the docks as he sails off to Kanto, much to the latter's pleasant surprise.

In Episode RR, Lusamine is kidnapped by Team Rainbow Rocket and held hostage by Giovanni. When the player finally reaches Giovanni, Lusamine is seen lying unconscious on the floor. Giovanni states that he has used the power of an Ultra Beast to make her sleep, and claims that he will brainwash her to serve Team Rainbow Rocket. She awakens after Giovanni is defeated and the mansion is restored. Upon finding out about Faba's attempt to betray the Aether Foundation to Team Rainbow Rocket, Lusamine demotes him to intern.

If spoken to after becoming Champion, Lusamine will express remorse for everything she has done, vowing to better herself as a protector of Pokémon and a mother to Gladion and Lillie without interfering with either again. On the first day of every month, Lusamine can appear at the Pokémon League to challenge the player to a Title Defense battle, replacing Faba from Sun and Moon.

After Gladion is defeated at the Pokémon League, Mohn will pay a visit to Aether Paradise, during which Lusamine will see him for the first time since his disappearance. Though surprised to see him once again, she chooses not to tell him about his past, believing that he seems happy enough as he is.

Status unknown

Nihilego

Lusamine is seen sending out this Nihilego from a Beast Ball before battling the player, willingly letting the Ultra Beast merge with her body. After the combined Lusamine is defeated in battle, Nebby separates the two, and Nihilego returns to the Beast Ball, which falls next to Lusamine. It is unknown if this Nihilego was left behind in Ultra Space as the player and the others escaped.

Quotes

"You must be <player> and Hau. Welcome to Aether Paradise. The Aether Foundation's own private island."

"I am the president of the foundation. But please, just call me Lusamine. I'm so glad that we got to meet."

"I'm glad there are people like you, who travel the islands to learn more about Pokémon... But there are also those unfortunate people who harm Pokémon for their own selfish reasons or even for profit."

"And that is why I am here. I will be like a mother to all of those poor Pokémon and shower them with love."

"Even Pokémon from distant worlds, far from the Alolaregion, are worthy of my love."

"Oh, you sweet boy! I'm already over 40!"

"Oh, you! The right style does wonders, you know. And, Hau, your style is a bit wanting, hm? I'll have to take you out sometime and help you pick a smashing outfit."

"Oh, don't you worry. You just leave everything up to me. Trust me—children would all be much happier if they'd only listen to the adults around them."

"Did you come... from another world?"

"You poor creature..."

"So, it's true... I still need that Pokémon. I need to get it back."

"That creature we just saw was undoubtedly an Ultra Beast... An unknown being from another dimension that suddenly appears from the Ultra Wormhole... It looked like it was suffering... Like it pained it to be in this strange place... I can't bear to see that happen! I will save it. And I will love it!"

"Thank you...both of you... Thank you so much!"

"Wicke. These two are still in the middle of their island challenge, aren't they? Please deliver them to their next island."

"I will go to check that none of our poor resident Pokémon came to any harm. And I need to speak with Mr. Faba about exactly what happened downstairs."

"And of course... I will have to start preparing the foundation for our newest and perhaps greatest duty yet: the protection of the Ultra Beasts!"

Lusamine's room

"Ah, <player>. It's been a while since we last saw you..."

"Hmm. So you know one another?"

"A gifted young Trainer like <player>... And he/she bothers with someone like you?"

"How disappointing."

"My... You do say such incomprehensible things."

"Calling me mother? I don't have any children! Certainly not any wretched children who would run off and reject my love!"

"So tell me how you'll save that Pokémon. What can you do, Lillie? You failed to convince me to listen to you. You don't even have the strength of a Trainer. The only thing that you've ever done on your own is steal someone else's research material!"

"You're not beautiful enough for my world... but fine. Since you're here anyway, you can watch me summon my sweet beast. And then...you can leave."

"You're right... it probably will die. Because I'm going to force it to use its power whether it wants to or not!"

"Maybe if you really had been a daughter to me, I would have listened to you... Too bad."

Trophy Room

"Hurry. This way."

"What do you think? It's my private collection. My precious babies... They will all be preserved for eternity here."

"But my poor beast... What confusion, what rage must it feel, arriving in this strange world? It would not be right to confine its feelings in such a small case as these ones... It will need to express itself. I think I will let it express all its fury upon the Alola region as it will!"

"The daughter who stole my Cosmog from me and the son who took my Type: Null! All I ever did was give you two all the love I had, and all you did was betray me! You have no right to ask for my attention now!"

"Perhaps once we were... Sweet Hau. But those wretches beside you left me."

"But it doesn't matter now. None of that matters now!"

"I was able to open the Ultra Wormhole using just the gases we'd extracted from Cosmog when it was in Aether Paradise, wasn't I?"

"But now I have Cosmog itself inside this crate here... If I use its entire body, how many Ultra Wormholes will I be able to open? How many sweet beasts will come to me then?"

"Watch... I will open the Ultra Wormhole for you... Come to me, my sweet beast!"

"You see! All over Alola!"

"Ugh... Must you be so noisy, even inside there? What an annoying Pokémon. The only thing I need from you is your power!"

"But I will admit... it looks like that power has served me well."

"There should be plenty of beautiful beasts appearing all around Alola as we speak!"

"Look at it... The world of my Ultra Beasts... A world where the only thing that exists is the love between Nihilego and myself. So beautiful... So delicious... This is the real paradise!"

"And yet you! Why must you continue to pester me?! I am sick of you. Sick through and through! Who told you that you could come here, to the perfect, beautiful world of my beasts and me?"

"Just leave. I don't need you here... I don't need you any longer!"

"Look around you! Look at this beautiful world that I've finally come to! You want me to go back to that world? That's what you've come to bother me for? Even you cannot be that stupid!"

"What...? And why shouldn't I!"

"I can live here in a world filled with only the things that I love! And I will live here!"

"I don't care if you are my child or not!"

"I don't care if you were loyal to me or not!"

"I don't care if you're the rarest Pokémon there is in the world or not!"

"If you're not beautiful enough to be worthy of my love, then I don't NEED you!"

"That's right! All I need to exist in my world are the things that I want to have with me! Everything else is just a bother to me!"

"Terrible? Me? How am I different from any Pokémon Trainer, like your little "friend" there? What do you do with a Pokémon you can't use? You remove it from your party, as you please."

"Enough with this useless talk, Lillie! I will never forgive you for stealing Cosmog from me. Never!"

"Back when you were small, you would listen to everything I said, without question. For a time, even you were adorable to me!"

"But you changed. You've become ugly. Ever since you met this boy/girl <player>... and learned to defy your own mother! <Player>! You hateful little Trainer! How dare you intrude upon this world that was meant for Nihilego and me? It is not to be borne! And with Nihilego's power, I will show you how wrong you were to come here!"

"You must be <player> and Hau. Welcome to Aether Paradise. The Aether Foundation's own private island."

"I am the president of the foundation. But please, just call me Lusamine. I'm so glad that we got to meet."

"I'm glad there are people like you, who travel the islands to learn more about Pokémon... But there are also those unfortunate people who harm Pokémon for their own selfish reasons or even for profit."

"And that is why I am here. I will be like a mother to all of those poor Pokémon and shower them with love."

"Even Pokémon from distant worlds, far from the Alolaregion, are worthy of my love."

"Oh, you sweet boy! I'm already over 40!"

"Oh, you! The right style does wonders, you know. And, Hau, your style is a bit wanting, hm? I'll have to take you out sometime and help you pick a smashing outfit."

"Oh, don't you worry. You just leave everything up to me. Trust me—children would all be much happier if they'd only listen to the adults around them."

"But everything will be fine. If this Necrozma, or even an Ultra Beast like the one we just saw, should come to this world from another, the Aether Foundation will be prepared to protect the light of Alola. Rest easy... You will not need to worry about a thing."

"Wicke. These two are still in the middle of their island challenge, aren't they? Please deliver them to their next island."

"I will go to check that none of our poor resident Pokémon came to any harm. And I need to speak with Mr. Faba about exactly what happened downstairs."

"It may be that our experiments to open an Ultra Wormhole are not going as well as we'd hoped."

Lusamine's room

"Ah, <player>. It's been a while since we last saw you..."

"Hmm. So you know one another?"

"A gifted young Trainer like <player>... And he/she bothers with someone like you?"

"How disappointing."

"My... You do say such incomprehensible things."

"Calling me mother? I don't have any children! Certainly not any wretched children who would run off and reject my love!"

"So tell me how you'll save that Pokémon. What can you do, Lillie? You failed to convince me to listen to you. You don't even have the strength of a Trainer. The only thing that you've ever done on your own is steal someone else's research material!"

"It's so terribly unattractive. But know that my fathomless love will save even someone like you... when I protect this entire world from darkness!"

"That's right... I will force Cosmog to use its power, and it may very well die. But if it will save the world for all of my beloved Pokémon, then that is what I will do."

"Lillie. I will be using the Cosmog you stole for a great purpose. You have kept it safe until now, and for that... I thank you."

Trophy Room

"If you want to see, you'd better hurry. This way."

"What do you think? It's my private collection. My precious babies... They will all be preserved for eternity here."

"But if the light is stolen from this world, then I won't be able to love my babies any longer."

"So I will open the Ultra Wormhole and take on the Pokémon that would steal our light... I will defeatUS/captureUM even poor Necrozma!"

"Ah. Sweet Hau. So you came, too?"

"I know better than to expect much from the members of the Ultra Recon Squad, but really... Couldn't Guzma even stop a few children?"

"Do you think I've forgotten?! As if I could forget what happened that day... I hate the Ultra Wormholes from the depths of my being. But that is why I will be the one to go! I will not let anyone stop me! Not even my own daughter and son!"

"Perhaps once we were... Sweet Hau. But those wretches beside you left me."

"But I will still save them. With all the endless love of the president of the Aether Foundation, as someone tasked with the protection of all Pokémon..."

"I was able to open the Ultra Wormhole using just the gases we'd extracted from Cosmog when it was in Aether Paradise, wasn't I?"

"And now I have Cosmog itself inside this crate here. If I use its entire body, I should be able to control the Ultra Wormhole."

"I... I am Lusamine."

"Oh? You are trying to resist, aren't you, Cosmog? But why? For Lillie's sake, perhaps?"

"How gallant you are... You love Lillie, don't you?"

"Heh heh... Perhaps Gladion and Lillie have both grown up a bit since leaving Aether."

"But I still won't allow them to interfere with this."

"If I am going to protect the Pokémon of Alola, I must go through the Ultra Wormhole and meet this Necrozma!"

"I will have Cosmog open the Ultra Wormhole. No matter what. I will use the power of its cage to ensure that it cannot resist any further!"

"There you are."

"Now you worry for me? Fine, Gladion. I will do what I must to put your worries to rest... by demonstrating my strength in battle."

"Let's see... Yes, you. <player>. You will battle me. If I can defeat even you, then that should silence Lillie's last objections as well."

Upon being defeated

"How...how can you be so awful!"

After being defeated

"Heh heh heh... Oh, <player>, you are strong. You should carry on with your island challenge."

"Perhaps I've made you feel uneasy about my ability to handle this task? I will be fine. I won't be alone."

"Those are special Poké Balls that we developed with the Ultra Recon Squad's help to capture Ultra Beasts. I know I can trust leaving them in the hands of a Trainer like you."

"With its light stolen from it, Cosmog is... No, SolgaleoUS/LunalaUM is weak. We will take it back to Paradise to care for it. Lillie, you will help also."

Aether Paradise

On the TV

"I know that many of you must have heard of the dark clouds covering Poni Island on the news... You may be feeling concerned now about what is going on, but let me put your fears to rest. This phenomenon was caused by a previously unknown Pokémon called Necrozma. Necrozma passed through an Ultra Wormhole, a wormhole that connects different worlds, and came here to steal Alola's light."

"There is nothing to be worried about, though. Thanks to the actions of one brave Trainer, the threat has already been dealt with. Alola will not be swallowed by darkness."

"The Aether Foundation will conduct extensive research into the Ultra Wormholes, so that we can prevent any such events in the future. To be specific, we will begin by—"

"Did he mean to suggest that his people created this Ultra Wormhole intentionally...? We will not allow this to go unchecked!"

Trophy Room

"Ngh... Where am I...? Lillie...? And...<player>?"

"What! He/She did?! It must have been terribly dangerous..."

"Well, <player>, it seems you've saved the day once again. I am truly grateful."

"I still feel a bit dizzy, but... What of you, Faba? Are you unhurt?"

"Branch Chief Faba."

Aether Paradise

2F

After becoming Champion

"I'm in no position to face my children now... I've lost any right to claim that I am protecting Pokémon as well... If I can't be a mother to them, and I'm no longer worthy to be the president of this foundation... then what am I to be?"

"I am Lusamine. I am the president of this foundation and mother to Gladion and Lillie. And while I will pour my love into protecting Pokémon and my children from pain... I will also try to be strong enough to watch over them without interfering from now on. That would be an even more beautiful kind of love, wouldn't you say? I learned to think this way after watching you... young <player>."

Aether Paradise

1F

"I... ... ..."

"N-no, nothing... You're here for...a tour today?"

"Heh heh... Is that so? Well, Aether Paradise is primarily designed for Pokémon conservation efforts, after all."

"Though..."

"No matter how hard we might work to heal a Pokémon, in the end, it may simply end up stuck in some PC Box somewhere, depending on the whims of its Trainer. Sometimes I can't help but think on that..."

"Just...one last question..."

"Is this... Is this your first time to visit Aether Paradise?"

"No, no reason... Don't let me keep you any longer. And thank you for coming."

"Yes."

"After all, the way he smiles now... It's quite lovely, don't you think?"

"Caring won't keep the things you love safe. But if you don't care, if you're so hard at heart, you may find you have nothing left to protect... Is that it? Maybe I can understand Lillie a little better now."

Subsequent challenges

Before battle

"As the president of the Aether Foundation, and as Lillie's mother... I will take you on in battle, <player>!"

In the Pokémon Masters Animated Trailer

In the manga

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

Lusamine in Pokémon Adventures

Lusamine is the head of the Aether Foundation and the mother of Lillie and Gladion. Despite her organization being dedicated to the conservation of Pokémon, Lusamine's true goal is to make a paradise only for herself and the Ultra Beasts she covets.

In PASM28, Lusamine received a large amount of Beast Balls from Colress. She revealed her next goal was to capture Necrozma, the Pokémon worshiped as the "Blinding One" by the people of the Ultra Megalopolis. Afterward, Phyco of the Ultra Recon Squad arrived at the Poni Altar to take Lusamine to the Ultra Megalopolis. After seeing the wild Naganadel Phyco used to travel through Ultra Space, Lusamine demonstrated the Beast Ball's power by using one to catch it. She then requested that Phyco take her to Naganadel's habitat before heading to their actual destination. After arriving at the Ultra Megalopolis, Lusamine, Phyco, and several Aether Foundation Employees found Necrozma battling Sun and Moon. Lusamine's presence angered Sun, who claimed that she was responsible for taking away his great-grandfather's island. Offended at Sun's claim, Lusamine sent out a Nihilego and had it fuse with her.

In PASM30, the fused Lusamine and her team attacked Dawn Wings Necrozma to capture it. With one of the Beast Balls dropped in the fight, Sun caught a Stakataka and used it to attack Lusamine, who retaliated by sending out her other Ultra Beasts. When Necrozma fled to Megalo Tower, Lusamine and her Ultra Beasts followed it. At the top, Lusamine expressed anger that Necrozma refused to listen to her before being hit by one of its attacks. Afterward, Lusamine was sucked into a wormhole Necrozma created, dropping her back to Alola.

Later, Lillie, Sun, Sina, Dexio, and Samson Oak found a barely-conscious Lusamine on the summit of Mount Lanakila. Lillie confronted her mother, revealing to her that Mohn was still alive in Alola somewhere. Overwhelmed with emotion, Lusamine separated from Nihilego, but passed out immediately afterward. Sun tried getting Lusamine to a hospital, only to notice that Necrozma had arrived.

Nihilego is one of Lusamine's Pokémon and was caught in a Beast Ball. It was first summoned with Cosmog's power. Guzma was captured by Nihilego, who proceeded to drag him into an Ultra Wormhole. It was later caught by Lusamine and used to confront Sun and Moon at the Ultra Megalopolis by fusing with Lusamine.

In the TCG

Artwork

Cards

Related cardsCards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format.Cards listed with a silver background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats.

Trivia

Lusamine is the first antagonist to have their character and motives rewritten in a subsequent title.

The merged form of Lusamine and Nihilego may be based on Turritopsis dohrnii, a species of jellyfish that is biologically immortal and can revert to a young, immature state if it is too old or stressed.

During the second battle against Lusamine in Pokémon Sun and Moon, all of her Pokémon except Bewear have angry facial expressions instead of their usual expressions.

The second battle against Lusamine in Pokémon Sun and Moon is the only Trainer battle in the core series games where the player's Pokémon gain experience, but the player doesn't get prize money for winning.

The player can win or lose to Lusamine the first time she is battled; the player will not black out and the story will progress either way.